You Don't Think When You Lie

Park Hyunyoung was inwardly surprised.

Although he had retired because of an injury, he had still been an A-rank hunter.

Even so, he couldn't sense her presence at all.

"...No way?"

"Huh?"

He looked down at Yumia.

Her hair was white, shining like moonlight on the winter solstice.

Light fractured across her jewel-like eyes.

Her nose and mouth were neat, almost like a sculpture.

Small in stature, but with a gaze that somehow seemed mature.

Every little movement of hers stirred the paternal instincts of countless fathers.

He unconsciously thought of his daughter, who had just turned twenty.

But even so, he had work to do.

"Young lady. What's your name?"

"Pardon?"

Jupiter's Observer.

An artifact that distinguishes truth from lies by observing fluctuations in another person's mana.

Unless someone was as skilled at controlling mana as an S-rank, or lied as naturally as breathing, it could expose them without fail.

No matter how much S-rank potential she had, at best she was only at the Tower's threshold.

This would definitely reveal it.

"I'm Eom Yuri."

"I see. Of course, that's impossible."

The artifact didn't catch any fluctuation in her mana.

Her expression didn't change either.

No matter how he looked at it, she didn't have the eyes of someone lying.

Lee Sera looked at Yumia.

"Sorry for taking up your time. I don't think this child is the one."

"Ah, yes."

"Come to think of it, I guess it's impossible for those pebble-sized hands to smash those monsters to pieces."

'Are this bastard's eyes blind as a knot hole or something?'

He thought back to the first floor of Hell difficulty.

There, Yumia had casually slipped past the skeleton soldier's attack and blown its head off.

This guy should have seen that murderous look in her eyes.

Lee Sera felt relieved she hadn't been found out, but she also felt a strong urge to shatter that fantasy.

"I also heard she beat up a fellow trainee badly for touching her belongings at the training school."

"Uh... yeah. Yes."

She had done that before... quite a lot, huh.

Of course, Yumia was a human being, so she didn't do that to just anyone.

There were exceptions, though.

"There's no way such an angelic child would have that kind of temperament."

"Angel... *hic*"

"What's the matter?"

"No. I was just remembering something from the past."

Listening to Park Hyunyoung's words, Lee Sera recalled her training school days.

'Hey. I heard you hid booze.'

'Then what are you gonna do about it? Kuuaaagh!'

'Then die.'

'Die! You're really going to die! Aaaaaagh!!'

Lee Sera remembered Yumia landing a body blow on a burly male classmate.

He was beaten until he begged for his life.

'I left that bastard alone because his reputation was bad, but I never thought it'd turn out like this...'

For the record, bringing alcohol into the training school was prohibited except in special cases.

But Yumia smelled of alcohol at least once a week.

"You've had it rough too, then. To have been beside such a top student."

"Ah... yes. It was rough."

In more ways than one.

"Are you of age?"

"Yes. Unlike how I look."

Yumia huffed and snapped.

"What do you mean, 'unlike how I look'!"

"I also have a daughter about that age."

"Ah, let's ditch this old man and go drink."

Yumia kept tugging at Lee Sera's arm.

Park Hyunyoung looked at the scene with a pleased expression.

And he was sure of it.

'For now, that's not it.'

She looked like a girl who had just turned twenty and was tagging after her older sister.

She was probably just a student Lee Sera was personally raising.

His own daughter had also recently discovered the fun of drinking in the university district and had been giving him some trouble...

"If you think about it that way, you're old enough to take in a disciple. Good luck with that."

Lee Sera was famous for never taking in anything even resembling a disciple.

It was probably a child Lee Sera treasured quite a bit.

Poking around any more would only be a loss.

Though Lee Sera was thinking something else entirely.

'I'm younger than that one...?'

***

"So, how did you not get caught?"

Sera asked while looking at me as I ate at a restaurant on Hunter Street.

Was she talking about that old man from earlier?

He did have some odd-looking eyes.

"Caught? Caught what?"

"Jupiter's Observer. A lie-detection artifact from the Abyss."

"Ah. That was an artifact?"

I didn't know that.

"He just asked, so I answered. He let it slide without saying much."

"No, how did you not get caught with that... no, wait. Then why did you use an alias?"

"Who tells a strange old man their name when he asks?"

"Fair enough."

"Kya! Ma'am! One more bottle here!"

As expected, food after work was the best.

"So, did you get anything from the Tower?"

"For now, one SSR-rank item."

"...SSR-rank? Do those really come out that often?"

"Partly because of the speedrun, and partly because I strengthened something that was already there."

SSR-rank traits didn't come out often even as speedrun rewards.

My inventory must've been the strange one.

"What did you strengthen?"

"Dragon Eye."

"Wow... the world really is unfair. That great trait got even better?"

"You have one too."

"I do, yeah."

Sera's ability was around the upper-middle of the SSR rank, whether judged objectively or subjectively.

And she hadn't even been out of training school for a year.

And yet she was rated that highly.

"Anyway, plus that and two SR-rank enhancement tickets. I brought them here."

I took two transparent orbs that shone gold out of my inventory.

"...They're really SR-rank."

"Got a problem with that?"

"No. But I don't think you're allowed to take those out of there?"

"Huh? Not allowed?"

"Wouldn't it get blocked at the exit?"

Since I put everything I obtained into my inventory, I hadn't known.

So there were little perks like this too.

Then could Sera use it too?

I handed one orb to Sera.

[Status Enhancement Tickets cannot be transferred. Owner: Yumia]

It looked like it was impossible.

"What?"

When I tried to give it to Sera, it wouldn't leave my hand.

Of course, I didn't really plan on giving it to her.

Sera is way stronger than me now, so why would I give it to her?

I should use it myself.

"Nothing."

"It's surprising you got something like that from the early floors. You said it was only the 3rd floor?"

"Yeah. Jealous?"

"As if."

Sera laughed, genuinely not jealous at all.

She snatched the next green bottle from my hand instead.

"Hey! Why are you taking that!"

"You can at least give me this much. When are you going to grow up?"

"You don't know it, but I'm already this mature."

Hearing that, Sera popped the cap open.

And then she drank straight from the bottle.

"Aagh! My booze!"

Sera smiled playfully at me.

"Why? I'm the one paying anyway, aren't I? I should drink too."

"You rich bastard, and you're stingy."

Can't be helped.

Let's order another one.

"Feels like it's been a while since we sat down to drink like this."

"It hasn't been that long."

"For us, a few weeks counts as a long time."

"True enough."

We clinked glasses.

'But it feels like I'm forgetting something.'

Ah.

The sealed-container trick at that expensive buffet.

And I'd upgraded my inventory too.

It was a prime chance to stuff myself for free.

I forgot!!

***

I came to the supermarket.

Sera was plastered, so I tossed her into a taxi.

"Uheh."

I was in a pretty good mood.

I felt like I understood why the routine of fighting to the fullest in the Tower and then drinking afterward had become a hunter's unwritten rule.

There was about an hour left until closing, so there weren't that many people.

"It's near the mountain, so it isn't a place with many people to begin with."

For the record, I raised the budget myself.

I sold all the mana stones I got from hunting ghosts on Hunter Street, and even though I was only on the lower floors, they brought in quite a lot.

"Might as well spend it all."

The money sitting in my account right now wasn't all that useful anyway.

Right now, silver and gold were more useful than won and dollars.

And so was my own enjoyment.

"Let's go shopping!"

What shall I take with me this time!

Potato chips, for starters.

All kinds of soda.

Those two were definite.

They had gotten good reactions, and they were great for snacking on at night when I got hungry.

And spices.

Since I didn't know, just put them all in.

I grabbed every spice in the spice aisle and stuffed in several containers of each.

I added seasonings and things like that too.

Some of them were more expensive than I expected, but whatever.

Just in case, I also put in soy sauce and gochujang.

I wasn't planning to cook.

I could just ask in A Restaurant's kitchen, couldn't I?

A Restaurant was originally buffet-style, but if you asked the old men, they would make custom dishes too.

Next, I casually stuffed in some drinking snacks.

Dried snacks were something Adrian liked quite a bit.

Maybe because of the reptile thing.

And booze.

In the past, I could only sneak in cheap soju while watching Sera's mood...

"This time, I can even buy expensive beer!"

Of course, compared to soju it wasn't all that expensive, but even that was a luxury to someone who had been living in a rented room.

'Come to think of it, it's been a really long time since I went there.'

I used to sleep there or in the mountains every day.

I filled the bag with beer while reminiscing.

I also added a little sake and liquor.

Captain... no. Let's not put this in.

'Why on earth is this even here?'

And, as always, ramen and canned goods.

They were lifesavers when I couldn't get out of the dorm.

Lastly... maybe I should buy a few of these to take back.

It's not like I came on a trip, but I should at least bring back something like a modern specialty.

A crystallization of modern science... well, you couldn't really call it that, but it was a curious item that was fairly practical to have around.

I put in a few of those.

"And this I can't resist. Hello?"

I made a call somewhere.

***

The place I called was a neighborhood chicken shop rumored to be delicious.

I rushed there pretty fast, and by the time I got there, it felt like they'd already fried everything.

It was five fried chickens and five sauced chickens.

I didn't forget the pickled radish and the sides, either.

"Thank you! Please come again...? Can you carry all of that?"

"Ah, it's fine."

Right in front of the clerk, the box containing ten chickens vanished in an instant.

The clerk probably wouldn't even know what happened.

That was how I filled my inventory completely.

***

Gomi was waiting at the foot of the mountain.

He was here to carry me and, as a bonus, get some meat.

Riding Gomi felt no different from riding a luxury sedan.

So even though I could've walked, I made Gomi my preferred means of transport.

And when I arrived at the Knot Hole.

"Ah, I forgot the meat."

"Gooooom!!!"

In front of Gomi, who was crying as if the world were ending, I quietly opened the bundle.

My inventory was full, so I wrapped it up in a bundle and brought it along.

"Just kidding. Here it is."

"Goom?"

Moonlight shone on the richly colored crimson meat.

Domestic, top-grade aged beef.

It was being stored at the butcher shop I often visited.

Since Gomi doesn't like fat, the grade was low.

But this was meat I had gotten by asking Lee Sera for it.

In terms of freshness and aroma, it was top-class.

"Gooooom!"

Gomi dug through the bundle and tore into the meat.

...But now that I think about it, can't he tell by smell?

Judging by his expression, I guess I was mostly right.

Gomi was a kind bear who'd even take scraps.

***

It was late at night, so the dorm doors were closed.

But I wasn't about to worry about that.

Doors exist to be opened, and walls exist to be climbed.

Naturally, I went to the back of the dorm and was about to climb the wall.

I pushed through the landscaping trees and pressed myself against the wall to size it up...

—Rustle

I sensed a presence beside me.

In an instant, I activated Dragon Eye at full power.

"Who's there!"

My eyes turned blue and became those of a monster.

Dragon mana roared with a ferocious cry, as if it would devour the enemy before me.

What I saw was...

"Grrrr..."

A guard on patrol.

Ah.

There was supposed to be one timid guard.

Fortunately, he was still breathing.

I almost had to take him to Celine in the infirmary.

"I'm sorry..."

I gently laid the guard down on the floor and pulled a blanket from my inventory to cover him.

Another weird rumor is going to spread again.

I went in through the window.

Not only was the latch not fastened, the window was open too.

It seemed Aris had been waiting up.

Wavy blond hair and blue eyes.

Aris, wearing a cute pajama dress, scolded me the moment she saw me.

"Honestly. You're late coming back again?"

I was about to get an earful from Aris again for coming home late, but.

Tonight, I'm different!

I opened my palm.

Before I knew it, a chicken box was on my palm.

A savory fried aroma wafted out.

Aris had already learned that the food I brought was delicious.

Her gaze turned this way.

"If you're thinking of getting away with it again using something like that..."

I took out a chicken drumstick and let Aris bite into it.

With a crisp crunch,

Aris's dress trembled with delight.